Barack Obama Promise Tracking

From Todd at Ideapalooza:

I continue to marvel at both the media and pundits discussions regarding the Barack Obama Stimulus Package. They wonder how things like money for the Arts and money towards Pell Grants can have any immediate impact on the ailing economy. What are items like this doing in a stimulus package?

The truth and the facts are that they are not part of the stimulus package. They are part of Mr. Obama’s Promise Keeper Package.

My Barack Obama Promise Tracker file contains 895 campaign promises culled from all of Mr. Obama’s speeches and his Plan for America. This file is downloadable, shareable, contains links to original sources and has a keyword search function.

The current stimulus plan, spun to us as a plan only recently concocted to heal the ailing economy, is a actually a year old plan formerly titled Barack Obama’s Plan for America. This is easily seen in my Barack Obama Promise Tracker.

A full year before the current economic crisis, President Obama published his Plan for America during his campaign run. In this, was a wonderful, wide-eyed, list of spending promises meant to transform America. The economic stimulus plan is this year-old Plan for America, only now it is fully funded under the guise called a stimulus plan.

I hope, wish and beg that the real intent of the stimulus plan is brought to light. That is, this is not a stimulus plan, it is a promise keeper plan. Let’s call it what it really is, I say. No disguises, no spin, real transparency.

The True Message of Jesus

“Jesus’s teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day. However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect. The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde ones. We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did.”

- Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God

(HT: Of First Importance)

Voddie Baucham

I recently read Voddie Baucham's Family Driven Faith, but didn't take much time to write about it. I found these clips of Baucham that give a good taste of the book:

The Definition of Disciple:


Family Discipleship:


The Purpose of Family Worship:


Put the Baby in the Beemer:


Is it ever too late?

Family/Children Part II

Japan has a slightly different take than Speaker of the House Pelosi:

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) - Even before one reaches the front door of Canon's headquarters in Tokyo, one can sense the virtual stampede of employees pouring out of the building exactly at 5:30 p.m.

In a country where 12-hour workdays are common, the electronics giant has taken to letting its employees leave early twice a week for a rather unusual reason: to encourage them to have more babies.

Japan is in the midst of an unprecedented recession, so corporations are being asked to work toward fixing another major problem: the country's low birthrate.

Read the rest.

(HT: Vitamin Z)

"Stimulus" Quick Facts

From the U.S. House of Representatives Republican Committee on Appropriations:

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have." - Thomas Jefferson

Total Cost of Stimulus Legislation: $825 billion

How does this compare?

• In 1993, the unemployment was virtually the same as the rate today (around 7%). Yet, President Clinton’s proposed stimulus legislation *only* contained $16 billion in spending

• The total cost of this one piece of legislation is almost as much as the annual discretionary budget for the entire federal government.

• This legislation nears a trillion dollars. President Reagan said the best way to understand a trillion dollars is to imagine a crisp, new stack of $1000 bills.

• If you had a stack four inches high, you’d be a millionaire. A trillion-dollar stack of $1000 bills would measure just over 63 miles high.

• In $20 bills, a trillion dollar stack would be 3150 miles high. That’s about the distance between DC and Trujillo, Peru.

• President-elect Obama has said that his proposed stimulus legislation will create or save 3 million jobs. This means that this legislation will spend about $275,000 per job. The average household income in the U.S. is $42,000 a year.

• This bill provides enough spending to give every man, woman, and child in America $2,700.

• This bill will cost each and every household $6,700 in additional debt, paid for by our children and grandchildren.

• Although this legislation has been billed and described as a transportation and infrastructure investment package, but only three percent ($30 billion) of this package is for road and highway spending.

• Much of the funding within the proposed stimulus package will go to programs which already have large, unexpended balances.

• For example, the draft bill provides $1 billion for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), which already has $16 billion on hand.

• And, this year, Congress has plans to rescind $9 billion in highway funding that the states have not yet used.

• Deficit spending will not expand the economy. If that were true, then the current $1.2 trillion deficit -- the largest in history -- would already be rescuing the economy.

• $800 billion more will not change that.

• Trade groups state that every $1 billion in highway “stimulus” can be spent creating 34,779 new construction jobs.

• But Congress must first borrow that $1 billion out of the private sector.

• The private sector then loses or forgoes roughly the same number of jobs.

• Japan responded to a 1990 recession by passing 10 “stimulus” bills over 8 years (building the largest national debt in the industrialized world). Their economy remained stagnant and their per capita income went from the second highest in the world to the tenth highest.

(HT: Glenn Beck)

Family/Children Part I

Denny Burk comments:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is defending the fact that hundreds of millions of dollars of the forthcoming stimulus package are to be spent on “family planning.” Her argument is very simple. The economy is bad. Having babies costs money. Would-be parents need to save their money by not having babies.

Without a doubt, Pelosi’s remarks reflect the spirit of the age. In general, our culture has come to view children as a burden rather than as a blessing. Even among those who are married, children are increasingly viewed as add-ons—an option that may or may not be pursued by the couple.

This view of children is anything but biblical, and it is positively sub-Christian. From the very beginning of creation, having children has been associated with blessing from the Lord. God commanded Adam and Eve to “be fruitful and multiply”—which was apparently the necessary condition of their ruling over the earth (Gen 1:28). Psalm 127:3 states very clearly that “children are a gift of the LORD; The fruit of the womb is a reward.” When his disciples attempted to dismiss curious children as a nuisance, Jesus said, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Mark 10:14).

For a more helpful perspective on welcoming children into our families, take a listen to Russell Moore’s conversation on “The Albert Mohler Program” last week. You can download it here ...

I listened to Dr. Moore on the Albert Mohler Program mentioned. It was really good - I wish I had been taught some of this stuff earlier. Unfortunately I bought into society's philosophy of waiting until you were "ready" or could "afford" to have kids. My biggest regret in my marriage is that I kept my wife from having children for more than 3 years because I wasn't "ready." I got to the point where I actually asked my sister why anybody would have kids. Thank God (and my wife) for showing me grace and patience. If only somebody had knocked me upside the head and told me to grow up and be a man instead of just asking when we were going to have kids. At least now maybe God can use me to do just that for somebody in the next generation.

UPDATE: Upon further reflection, I owe an apology to anybody - particularly family and/or friends - who may have knocked my upside the head, but I was still too thick headed to feel it. Nobody else is responsible for me but me, and it was wrong of me to try to pass the buck and blame somebody else. I won't accept that in politicians; I won't accept that in my kids; and I will not accept that in myself. Particularly as I trust in God's sovereignty, I cannot honestly look back and say that I would change anything, because it's all a part of His plan to bring me where I am today. So looking forward, I hope in God & pray to Him that I will lead a life and a family that communicates the inherent value of children as a blessing from the Lord, as well as the responsibility of parents - particularly fathers - to disciple their children and pass on lessons such as these.

(HT: Vitamin Z)

Inauguration News

I enjoyed these brief stories from the Onion:

Inauguration Crowd Moves To White House Gates To Watch Presidency Happen
WASHINGTON—Moments after witnessing the historic inauguration of President Barack Obama Tuesday, the massive, euphoric crowd shifted to the White House gates to watch the rest of his four-year term unfold. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the new president administrate as it happens," said Hawaii resident Matt Rogers, who paid a scalper $100 to secure his portion of sidewalk until January 2013. "These first 100 days will really set the tone for his presidency, and I'm going to see it all from 50 yards away." This is reportedly the largest crowd of presidential spectators to assemble since 1974, when 20 million Americans stood for six months outside disgraced former president Nixon's home in San Clemente, CA just to rub it in.

---

Hillary Clinton Mouthing Along To Presidential Oath
WASHINGTON—Network news cameras covering Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony Tuesday captured Hillary Clinton silently moving her lips along with each word of the minute-long presidential oath of office. As she stood watching several yards from Chief Justice John Roberts, the former Democratic presidential candidate could be observed placing her left hand on a leather appointment book and raising her right hand slightly from her hip. Clinton, who carefully followed the swearing-in procedure with her eyes shut tightly, only varied from the president's words once, when she soundlessly mouthed her name instead of Barack Obama's. Clinton was later seen at an inaugural ball pretending she was dancing with first lady Michelle Obama.

This is Disturbing

According to a new Barna Group poll, among Americans who described themselves as Christian*:

• "close to half believe that Satan does not exist"
• "one-third contend that Jesus sinned while He was on earth"
• "two-fifths say they do not have a responsibility to share the Christian faith with others"
• "one-quarter dismiss the idea that the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches"

Heavenly Father, draw us closer to You and Your Word, and may Your Spirit correct us and lead us into all truth.

* "Born again Christians were defined as people who said they had made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that was still important in their life today and who also indicated they believed that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents were not asked to describe themselves as 'born again.'"

Being Pro-Life Christians Under a Pro-Choice President

From John Piper at the Desiring God blog:

That is the title of a sermon I preached January 17, 1993 three days before Bill Clinton was inaugurated president. It is just as relevant—or more—today.

The text was 1 Peter 2:17, “Honor the king.” I closed with eight ways to honor a pro-choice president. The seventh was this:

We will honor you by expecting from you straightforward answers to straightforward questions. We would not expect this from a con-man, but we do expect it from an honorable man.

For example,

1. Are you willing to explain why a baby's right not to be killed is less important than a woman's right not to be pregnant?
2. Or are you willing to explain why most cities have laws forbidding cruelty to animals, but you oppose laws forbidding cruelty to human fetuses? Are they not at least living animals?
3. Or are you willing to explain why government is unwilling to take away the so-called right to abortion on demand even though it harms the unborn child; yet government is increasingly willing to take away the right to smoke, precisely because it harms innocent non-smokers, killing 3,000 non-smokers a year from cancer and as many as 40,000 non-smokers a year from other diseases?
4. And if you say that everything hangs on whether the fetus is a human child, are you willing to go before national television in the oval office and defend your support for the "Freedom of Choice Act" by holding in your hand a 21 week old fetus and explaining why this little one does not have the fundamental, moral, and constitutional right to life? Are you willing to say to parents in this church who lost a child at that age and held him in their hands, this being in your hands is not and was not a child with any rights of its own under God or under law?

Perhaps you have good answers to each of these questions. We will honor you by expecting you to defend your position forthrightly in the public eye.

You have immense power as President of the United States. To wield it against the protection of the unborn without giving a public accounting in view of moral and scientific reality would be dishonorable. We will honor you by expecting better.

Imagine

(HT: JT)

Making Christ a Minister of Condemnation?

I couldn't pick & choose from this blog post written by John Piper at the Desiring God blog, so here it is in full:

At Barack Obama’s request, tomorrow in the Lincoln Memorial, Gene Robinson, the first openly non-celibate homosexual bishop in the Episcopal Church, will deliver the invocation for the inauguration kick-off.

This is tragic not mainly because Obama is willing to hold up the legitimacy of homosexual intercourse, but because he is willing to get behind the church endorsement of sexual intercourse between men.

It is one thing to say: Two men may legally have sex. It is another to say: The Christian church acted acceptably in blessing Robinson’s sex with men.

The implications of this are serious.

It means that Barack Obama is willing, not just to tolerate, but to feature a person and a viewpoint that makes the church a minister of damnation. Again, the tragedy here is not that many people in public life hold views (like atheism) that lead to damnation, but that Obama is making the church the minister of damnation.

The apostle Paul says,

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves , nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

What is Paul saying about things like adultery, greed, stealing, and homosexual practice? As J. I. Packer puts it, “They are ways of sin that, if not repented of and forsaken, will keep people out of God’s kingdom of salvation.” (Christianity Today, January 2003, p. 48).

In other words, to bless people in these sins, instead of offering them forgiveness and deliverance from them, is to minister damnation to them, not salvation.

The gospel, with its forgiveness and deliverance from homosexual practice, offers salvation. Gene Robinson, with his blessing and approval of homosexual practice, offers damnation. And he does it in the name of Christ.

It is as though Obama sought out a church which blessed stealing and adultery, and then chose its most well-known thief and adulterer, and asked him to pray.

One more time: The issue here is not that presidents may need to tolerate things they don’t approve of. The issue is this: In linking the Christian ministry to the approval of homosexual activity, Christ is made a minister of condemnation.

Reading this, I'm reminded of this passage of Scripture:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Romans 1:16-32 (ESV), emphasis added

Bush Grants Clemency

According to Fox News:

On his last full day in office, President Bush commuted the controversial sentences of two former Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a Mexican drug runner in 2005.

The imprisonment of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean had sparked outcry from critics who said the men were just doing their jobs and were punished too harshly. They had been sentenced to 11- and 12-year sentences, respectively.

Their sentences will now expire on March 20 of this year.

Finally. Now we'll have to see if anything happens with Johnny Sutton. If you aren't familiar with the story, check out my previous posts on the matter.

Russell Moore Hates Sanctity Of Human Life Sunday

Russell Moore:

I hate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday because I’m reminded that we have to say things to one another that human beings shouldn’t have to say. Mothers shouldn’t kill their children. Fathers shouldn’t abandon their babies. No human life is worthless, regardless of skin color, age, disability, economic status. The very fact that these things must be proclaimed is a reminder of the horrors of this present darkness.

Read the rest of this very important article.

(HT: Vitamin Z)

Sanctity Of Life Sunday Sermons

DesiringGod.org has a list of sermons given by John Piper on Sanctity of Life Sunday going back to 1987:

• Abortion: The Innocent Blood of Our Sons and Daughters
• When Is Abortion Racism?
• Love Your Unborn Neighbor
• Abortion, Race, Gender, and Christ
• Abortion and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
• The Darkness of Abortion and the Light of Truth
• "Father, Forgive, For We Know What We Are Doing"
• God at Work in Every Womb
• Christ, Culture, and Abortion
• Visiting Orphans in a World of AIDS and Abortion
• Where Does Child Killing Come From?
• Be Strong and Fervent in Spirit in the Cause of Truth and Life
• Fasting for the Safety of the Little Ones
• What Is Man?
• Being Pro-Life Christians Under a Pro-Choice President
• Exposing the Dark Work of Abortion
• Abortion: Shall We Listen to Men or God?
• Kingdom Compassion and the Killing of Children
• Rescuing Unborn Children: Required and Right
• Abortion: You Desire and Do Not Have, So You Kill

Sanctity Of Life Sunday

From the Romans 15:4 Project Blog:

"The first thing I’d do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing I’d do." - Presidential Candidate Barak Obama, 2008

"Abortion has set us on a dangerous course. We may come to our senses and back away from the slippery slope. Or we may follow it to its inescapable conclusion - a society in which the powerful, for their own self-interest, determine which human beings will live and which will die." - Randy Alcorn, "Why Pro-Life? Caring for the Unborn and Their Mothers"

Message from AUL Action:

This Sunday is Sanctity of Life Sunday — a wonderful way to start a week that includes the presidential inauguration and the annual March for Life. Millions of Americans will go to churches where there will be a special emphasis on the sanctity of human life.

Yet many of those Americans haven’t heard about Congress’ plans to expand abortion through the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) — and other bills like it that would eliminate virtually every pro-life law in the country and force taxpayers to help pay for it.

You can help spread the word. It’s easy: http://www.fightfoca.com/

Visit Fight FOCA today!

Anchor Of Our Salvation

“Our assurance, our glory, and the sole anchor of our salvation are that Christ the Son of God is ours, and we in turn are in him sons of God and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven, called to the hope of eternal blessedness by God’s grace, not by our worth.”

—John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (III.17.1)

(HT: Of First Importance)

Vote For Noah

From Tim Ellsworth:

My wife entered a photo of Noah in the “America’s Cutest Last-Minute Tax Deduction” contest, and we found out that he’s a finalist. If you would, please take a second to go to the Cutest Tax Deduction site, scroll down to the bottom and cast your vote for little Noah.

Let’s rock the vote! (And no registration is required.)

Thanks very much.

Tim gives some background on Noah in the comments:

Noah was born Dec. 30, and was quickly taken to the NICU with respiratory distress. The next day, they discovered he had a pneumothorax (or hole) in each lung, resulting in an air leak.

So, Noah had to get two chest tubes inserted — one on each side. The chest tubes removed the air that had gathered outside his lungs, thus allowing his lungs to expand and to heal. He spent six nights in NICU before we were able to bring him home on Jan. 5.

The Lord was most gracious to us in healing little Noah. A friend of my wife’s works in an NICU at a different hospital, and she said it’s not uncommon for this kind of situation to require a much lengthier stay.

So, we’re so grateful to the Lord for healing Noah as quickly as he did. God is indeed good.

Thanks for visiting, and thanks for helping us by voting.

And also shows his humor:

Also, I should add: the grand prize for the contest is a $5,000 savings bond — which means, given the state of our economy, that it should be worth about $1.83 when it matures.

Go give the little guy a vote.

Family Driven Faith

I just finished reading Voddie Baucham's Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes To Raise Sons And Daughters Who Walk With God. I really enjoyed this book, as it made me think about the responsibility I have to evangelize and disciple my children - that it's not something I can "outsource" to children's ministry personnel, youth group leaders, or the youth pastor at church. Baucham's words ring deep and true, both convicting and encouraging families, especially fathers.

I'd recommend this book to anybody who has kids or is planning on having kids. I'd also recommend reading the review of Family Driven Faith at the 9Marks website. Michael Lawrence, associate pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, provides some good words of critique which he says "responds to a matter of secondary significance in Baucham's book," regarding the nature and purpose of the church.

Family Worship

A couple of "How to" links about family worship:

• Three Main Steps to Starting Family Worship
• Creating a Family Worship Time

Culture Of Death

From the Washington Times' Jeffrey T. Kuhner:

Social conservatives are mobilizing to prevent President-elect Barack Obama's nominee, Thomas Perrelli, from becoming the next U.S. associate attorney general - the No. 3 post at the Justice Department. In a Jan. 6 story in The Washington Times, veteran reporters Stephen Dinan and Jerry Seper show that prominent special interest groups, such as the Traditional Values Coalition and the Family Research Council, are urging Republicans to oppose Mr. Perrelli's appointment.

It is rare for a sub-Cabinet nominee to generate such fierce criticism, but Mr. Perrelli deserves it. He was one of the lawyers responsible for the death of Terry Schiavo. While representing Mrs. Schiavo's husband, Michael, Mr. Perrelli played a key role in having the Florida woman's feeding tube forcibly removed. The 2005 landmark right-to-die case rightly outraged the pro-life community. As Mrs. Schiavo lay in a coma, her parents and siblings repeatedly said they were willing to take full responsibility, including paying for her medical care. Mr. Schiavo refused. He ordered her feeding at the hospital to be terminated - an act of coldblooded murder.

...

The selection of Mr. Perrelli is symptomatic of Mr. Obama's radicalism on social issues. He is staffing his administration with hard-core liberals bent on promoting a pro-abortion, pro-gay rights, pro-euthanasia agenda. The president-elect has tapped the likes of Dawn Johnsen, the former legal director of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL), to head the Office of Legal Council. He has chosen a fiercely partisan pro-choice Democrat, Tom Daschle, as health and human services secretary. Mr. Obama's intended secretary of state, Sen. Hillary Clinton, is a pro-abortion feminist, who will use the power of the State Department to promote a secular humanist agenda abroad.

On the campaign trail, Mr. Obama vowed that one of his first acts as president will be to pass the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) - a sweeping law that will entrench Roe v. Wade and eliminate state restrictions on abortion and parental notification laws. He is a fierce critic of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits use of federal Medicaid dollars for abortions except in cases of rape, incest and when the mother's life is in jeopardy. The law has saved countless lives. Yet, Mr. Obama and liberal Democrats plan to repeal it.

...

Mr. Obama is a prophet, but a prophet of the culture of death. He refuses to lift a finger to protect the most vulnerable and innocent in our society - the unborn. He now wants to appoint Mr. Schiavo's lawyer to a senior Justice Department position and he must be stopped in his tracks. Conservatives must vociferously object: Mr. Obama needs to know Terry Schiavo has not been forgotten - and that her death was not in vain.

Read the whole piece here.

When Christ Is The Treasure

“I don’t think Christ is glorified anywhere more than when suffering people rejoice in him as their treasure.”

- John Piper, “Suffering for Christ,” an interview with C. J. Mahaney

(HT: Of First Importance)

Climate Change

Do I sound more sophisticated and intelligent if I say "climate change" rather than "global warming?" I hope so. Because then I can mindlessly jump on the ice age bandwagon and still pretend that I'm smart.

RedOrbit carries a story entitled "Research Claims Earth Facing Ice Age:"

Scientists are now making an alarming claim that the earth is on the brink of entering another Ice Age that could last the next 100,000 years.

They believe a 12,000-year warming period is currently winding down.

They say ice cores, ocean sediment cores, the geologic record, and studies of ancient plant and animal populations all demonstrate a regular cyclic pattern of Ice Age patterns, separated by intervening warm interglacials, each lasting about 12,000 years.

Read the full story here.

So evidently this means that in the past 35 years, we've gone from the brink of an Ice Age (see this story from Time's June 24, 1974 issue), through the worst global warming in the history of the planet, to the brink of another Ice Age.

Swords Are For Killing

John Piper's reflections on the sword of the Spirit:

In New Testament times swords were not for digging, shaving, or whittling. They were for killing. The only reason Peter cut off Malchus’s ear was that he missed (John 18:10).

But Herod didn’t miss: “He killed James the brother of John with the sword” (Acts 12:2).

Many saints have felt the full force of the sword: “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword” (Hebrews 11:37). So it was and will be: “If anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain” (Revelation 13:10).

That’s what swords are for. So when Paul calls the word of God the “sword of the Spirit” in Ephesians 6:17, he is serious—something must be put to death. And it is not people. Christians don’t kill people to spread our faith; we die to spread our faith.

The link in Paul’s mind is given in Romans 8:13.

If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

The word of God is the sword of the Spirit. The Sword is for putting to death. And by the Spirit we put to death our sinful deeds. So I conclude that the way we kill our sins is with the Spirit’s sword, the word of God.

All temptations to sin have power by lying. The are “deceitful desires” (Ephesians 4:22). They tell us that the pleasure of the sin is worth it. The killing blow against these lies is the power of God’s truth. Hence the sword of the Spirit, God’s word, is the weapon to use.

As John Owen said, “Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.” That is what swords are for, especially the Bible.

The Worst Climate Predictions of 2008

From Watts Up With That?:

• 2008 will be the hottest year in a century.
• You could potentially sail, kayak or even swim to the North Pole by the end of the summer. Climate scientists say that the Arctic ice . . . is currently on track to melt sometime in 2008.
• Australia’s Cities Will Run Out of Drinking Water Due to Global Warming.
• Hurricane Effects Will Only Get Worse.
• Corals will become increasingly rare on reef systems.
• No More Skiing?

Read more about the predictions here.

Prayer

A couple of links about prayer:

• Texts to pray for our children
• Praying for your pastor

2 John (ESV)

The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.

I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

The children of your elect sister greet you.

Links

This stuff was too good to pass up, but I didn't have the time to spend on each one separately:

Posted at Between Two Worlds:

• Meditating on God's Word
• Ten Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year
• Bible Reading Plans

Posted at the Desiring God Blog:

• The Crazy Idea of Fasting in '09
• A List of Everything they Prayed for in the New Testament
• 9 Ways to Pray for Your Soul